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Bourbon Offshore: the difficulties in keeping older ships working longer
The chief operating officer of French offshore support vessel owner Bourbon has set out its strategy to overcome challenges related to ageing vessels
Vessel owners face several challenges, namely ageing fleets, rising operating costs, scarce crew and limited options for financing newbuilds.
In an offshore market that faces steady growth, owners need to focus on extending the life of existing assets and recruiting and training the next generation of seafarers.
Bourbon Offshore chief operating officer, Stephan Midenet, explained these challenges and pushed for wider industry co-operation between owners, their clients and suppliers.
He presented these views during a panel discussion at Riviera’s Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference, held in London, UK, in February 2026.
“Fundamentals in our industry remain quite strong, but we will be dealing with an ageing fleet,” said Mr Midenet. “We should collaborate to address and adapt to challenges. We will need to extend the life of our assets and move towards life-extension strategies for the fleets.”
Extending the life of assets also requires seafarers to continue working on these vessels, and improved training to maintain onboard safety, all of which has become harder for owners.
“People and competency components are going to be quite critical for us,” said Mr Midenet.
He sees the OSV industry finding it difficult to retain and attract talent and ensure they have the right competencies for safe vessel operations.
“First and foremost, safety is the core of everything,” he continued. “Safety, to a certain extent, drives efficiency, and I believe that a safe system is an efficient one.”
He wants to co-ordinate with vendors to improve seafarer competencies and raise safety standards on vessels.
“We need to drive safety, and we need to drive efficiency as well. There will be no compromise,” said Mr Midenet.
He also wants to co-operate with suppliers and service providers to control operational and maintenance costs on vessels as their lives are extended.
“We are stuck at the point where systems are becoming obsolete,” Mr Midenet explained. “We are operating in the short term in a cost-conscious environment, and we need to find cost-effective solutions.
“And that will come from co-operation with suppliers with the right solution that will make our [fleet extension] strategy economically viable.”
Riviera’s Offshore Support Journal Conference, Asia will be held in Singapore on 8-9 September 2026. Use this link for more information and to register for the event.
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